Two More Urgent Actions
I’ve got two more urgent actions for you today. The first comes from Amnesty International and concerns Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s unconstitutional dismissal and arrest of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary and several members of the judiciary this past November.
- Acting in his capacity as Army Chief of Staff, Musharraf suspended the constitution, including the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of life and to be guaranteed a fair trial. He assumed powers to amend the Constitution without any parliamentary procedure and proclaimed a Provisional Constitutional Order. This order prohibits any court issuing an order against the President, Prime Minister, or any person exercising powers under their ability.
Since the suspension of the constitution and the dismissal of the judiciary, stability in Pakistan has rapidly deteriorated. Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in December further exacerbated tensions in the country. On December 15, Musharraf lifted the state of emergency and restored a heavily amended Constitution, including all the amendments which provide complete impunity to his action during the period of emergency.
[We must] demand the reinstatement of Chief Justice Chaudhary. Only an independent judiciary can guarantee Pakistan’s stability, ensuring peace in the region and the maintenance of global security.
Sign a letter to President Musharraf here.
The section action is from Credo Action:
- The Senate has failed to stop retroactive immunity and as a result, a bill has been passed that gives Bush, Cheney, and big telecoms like Verizon and AT&T the “Get Out of Jail Free” card they lobbied for long and hard. But the fight isn’t over yet.
Last fall, the House passed the RESTORE Act, a FISA reform bill that does what we need FISA reform legislation to do: increase oversight of domestic surveillance and deny retroactive immunity to the telecom companies.
Now, because the House bill is so different from the legislation that the Senate just passed, there will be a conference between leaders of the House and the Senate to decide what legislation both bodies will put forward for the President to sign.
We need the Democratic leadership in the House to push hard to ensure that the conference committee produces good legislation, with no retroactive immunity.
The Senate passed legislation that gives George Bush and Dick Cheney exactly what they wanted. But it will only become law if Democrats in the House roll over by giving up on the RESTORE Act and the rule of law.
Ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to urge their fellow Democrats to report a bill that does not include retroactive immunity here.
